


Ride

by nekojita



Series: Clouds AU [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Andrew is fighting hard against his feelings, Andrew is studying abroad, BREN!, Clouds AU, Fumbling, M/M, Manchester, Neil is semi-oblivious, Neil is with the Hatfords, Neil went off to the UK after his mother died, Roadtrip, UK - Freeform, but it's Neil so he's fighting a losing battle, but it's andrew and neil so...., but living on his own mostly, he's just not so sure what to do about it, it's andreil what do you expect?, it's clear he likes Andrew, neil's mouth makes a cameo, not so much pining here, some not so PC terms here, sorta - Freeform, the boys are fumbling toward a relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 20:44:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16145168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekojita/pseuds/nekojita
Summary: Andrew and Neil on a roadtrip! Follow up to 'Clouds', where Andrew and Neil are on their first official date (or something), off to visit a small Scottish town known for an old castle and historic jail. Doesn't that scream 'romantic date'? These poor boys are trying....





	Ride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nikotheamazingspoonklepto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikotheamazingspoonklepto/gifts), [fuzzballsheltiepants](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzzballsheltiepants/gifts).



> OK, so it was basically split between more Clouds and Armies when it came to what type of one-shot to post, and I'm going to try to do a quick fic for Armies before I dive back into Ravens Partner to finish that monster up, I swear. Anyway, I'd hoped to get this posted last week then got waylaid by a very sick cat, which meant that Hoshi was all stressed and I was all stressed and... much thanks to niko and fuzzball for the reassurances and everything (and Hoshi appears recovered, judging from her food begging and trouble-making and all curled up next to me right now - fingers crossed that she remains that way). 
> 
> Uhm, this is rather general, vague references to the past (mostly Neil since it's Andrew's POV and he's trying to avoid anything bad on his part), though some people being non-PC assholes at one point.  
> *******

*******

Andrew refused to fidget as he waited at the Manchester Piccadilly train station for Neil so they could take the 7:26am train to Glasgow, from where they’d catch a bus to Stirling for his class project before returning to the Scottish city for a few of hours then take the train back ‘home’. He was just about to check his phone again when he heard his name be called out and caught sight of Neil running toward him, a messenger bag slung over his chest and a coffee carrier in his hands. “Sorry,” Neil said when he came near, not out of breath despite his mad dash, “but I thought you might want something for the ride since it’ll be a while,” he explained as he held up the drinks.

Andrew gave a slight nod and motioned toward the steps leading up to platform 14, where the train would arrive in another few minutes; he told himself that he wasn’t relieved at all that Neil had showed up, that he hadn’t been dumped on what was basically the first real date he’d ever gone on (hook-ups at bars and call-outs so he could get off didn’t count). Neil gave him a shy smile as they climbed the stairs, dressed in an overlarge dark grey coat that looked new and pale grey skinny jeans.

The platform wasn’t crowded that early on a Sunday morning, and the train pulled up as Neil talked about checking that the weather should be good that day (meaning no rain – Andrew was bundled in a sweater beneath his black jacket). They went to the first class seats that Andrew had splurged on, unwilling to deal with having too many people around them, and when they sat down facing each other, Neil handed over a double mocha for Andrew along with a chocolate croissant which he pulled out from the messenger bag.

“I am capable of feeding myself,” Andrew said as he accepted the snack none-the-less.

“Perhaps I’m unwilling to be trapped in a relatively small space with you when you haven’t had copious amounts of sugar within a few hours,” Neil teased with a slight smile as he settled back in his seat and sipped what looked to be black tea. “I’m sure it won’t be pretty.”

“Amusing,” Andrew drawled, but he didn’t hand back the pastry or the coffee, not when it would be about four hours before they reached Stirling and he’d been in such an anxious hurry to reach the train station that he’d barely had anything to eat before leaving campus. “Where are my earphones? I’ve a feeling you’re going to be an annoyance the entire train ride.” He made a show of patting his coat pockets with his right hand after setting the drink down on the arm of his chair while Neil’s smile strengthened.

“Hmm, you might be right about that. Poor you.”

Ever since Andrew had found Neil’s number and called him, they’d… fuck, he wasn’t quite sure what they were doing, if he was honest with himself. Neil had agreed to come with him to Stirling and they’d taken to texting during the day, when Andrew was bored with his classes and Neil didn’t have any customers in the coffee shop, and had talked a little the past few nights after Neil had closed up the Bolt-Hole and gone back to his apartment. There’d been a few more truths exchanged, with them slowly moving from a tit-for-tat deal toward shared stories of their past.

It was clear that Neil Josten was hiding a lot (his true appearance, what his mother’s family did for a living, where he originally was from, possibly his real name), but it was clear that his childhood had left him as broken as Andrew in some ways; they both sat next to the window with their bags (messenger and small backpack) in the seats near the aisle to discourage anyone else from sitting next to them, wary of the few people who got on the train and walked past. Neil’s fake brown eyes would flicker to the exits from time to time as they talked about plans for the day, about how he’d asked Bren to check in on his cat, Pita, while he was gone, and the other general topics that whiled away the ride (that Andrew should hate but somehow he didn’t when it was Neil). They would fall into silences now and then, but it wasn’t anything uncomfortable, was Neil gazing out the window with an intent expression on his face while Andrew did his best to read the words of his book and not to stare at his companion.

The ride went by faster than he’d expected, and they stopped for another quick snack (more for Andrew than Neil) before they caught the bus to Stirling. That was more crowded than the train had been, requiring them to sit next to each other with Neil’s bag between them; Andrew would be crawling in his own skin if it was anyone but Neil in the seat, and not only because his ‘friend’ was also on the small side. Neil was hunched as close to the window as possible and minded his long limbs, careful to keep them as far away from Andrew’s as possible while he cast an apologetic smile Andrew’s way as if the packed vehicle was his fault.

Andrew clicked his tongue at the idiot’s actions and asked Neil about the latest Russian book he was reading, and spent the ride to Stirling discussing the best plot points for the essay Neil had to write for his online class.

It was frightening, how easy it was to talk to Neil, to share space with him and spend time and… it was frightening, _everything_ to do with Neil. If Andrew was as smart as he liked to think he was, he’d erase the young man’s number from his phone and find a new coffee shop for his remaining months in England, then return to the US without a second thought for fake brown eyes and tremulous smiles and a mystery wrapped up in such a pretty package.

Instead, he got off the bus at Stirling Old Town and lit up a cigarette while he waited for Neil to join him, and they walked uphill together toward Stirling castle.

“It looks very impressive,” Neil said several minutes later, as the castle loomed in the distance with the jail not too far away. “Bren told me they film, uhm, movies and things here sometimes.” He sounded uncertain about that fact, but from what Andrew had learned from their talks, he wasn’t very knowledgeable about pop culture things like that.

“You Brits and your piles of bricks,” Andrew said in a droll tone as he flicked aside the butt of his cigarette; Neil glared for a moment before a hint of a smile lingered on his lips.

“Least we have piles of bricks older than a couple of centuries,” he taunted. “Unlike you upstart Yanks.”

“Who needs a bunch of crumbling antiques when we have all that space?”

“Space filled with boring, ugly little houses,” Neil argued. “Which is why you’re here, studying jails.” He wrinkled his upturned nose over that last part. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“ _You’re_ here with me to look at one of those jails. What, nothing better to do?” Andrew taunted as he fought the urge to light another cigarette as something to do (rather than brush back a lock of black hair which had fallen onto Neil’s nose).

Neil’s lips curved in one of those tremulous smiles while he shrugged. “Maybe, but you asked me to come,” he admitted in a quiet voice. “So I’m here.”

Andrew didn’t have anything to say to that because yes, he had invited Neil, had given in to what was most likely a very foolish impulse, inviting the too-gorgeous young man with a hint of darkness hidden behind those damn, ugly contacts and oh-so many secrets in his past. The young man who seemed to belong to a family involved in criminal activities and thought nothing of working at a coffee shop which was some sort of front for said family’s illegal business.

Not that Andrew gave a damn about any of that, the darkness or secrets or possible trouble from the ‘wrong’ side of the law. Not when Neil had said ‘yes’ (for whatever reason), when Neil edged closer (but not _too_ close) when they reached the queue for tickets and there were several people already waiting in line.

There was an older couple and a few teenage girls who regarded them an appraising look, at least until Andrew gave them a flat one in return while Neil tugged the hood of his jacket over his head, his gaze averted. One of the girls pouted while the other two rolled their eyes, especially when Andrew bought the tickets for him and Neil.

“You don’t have to do that,” Neil murmured as the bunch of them were grouped together for the tour.

“I invited you, remember? You can get lunch if you’re all offended.”

Neil’s eyes narrowed at that offer, but the right corner of his mouth twitched a little. “How do you feel about haggis?”

It was Andrew’s turn to do the whole ‘narrow eye’ thing. “I’m all for trying to shove it down your throat in one piece.”

Dammit, it wasn’t natural, how his stomach flipped about when Neil laughed like that – he told himself it was an after-effect of the long train ride and gave a cold look at the girls when they gawked at his friend. “I’m serious,” he told a smiling idiot.

“I know,” Neil said as they entered the large archway that was the ‘front door’ of Stirling castle. “I’m just thinking it might be worth it to see you touch the dish, something other than sweets for once.”

“Ha, ha.” Fortunately, they were spared from any more ridiculous remarks since the tour began, with Neil once more hovering near Andrew as if seeking protection of some sort from the various actors who pretended to be various historical figures and the animated tour guides; the older couple and the teenagers appeared enamored by all of it, while Neil would take the occasional picture of some of the castle’s architecture or artwork. Andrew found the gardens and views of the distant countryside of the most interest, and took a picture or two to send off to Nicky (to get the pest to leave him alone about ‘wasting chances to _do_ something’).

Once they were back on the main grounds, they went off to the Stirling Jail (the main reason for their visit), which the girls skipped but the older couple toured as well; there were more reenactors there, too, and Andrew paid more attention since he had to write a paper about the historical site. Neil helped by taking some pictures, too, and asked a couple of questions while Andrew read the various plaques.

It took a couple of hours, all in all, and by that time they were hungry enough for a quick bite to eat before they headed back to Glasgow. Andrew made a show of sliding the fingers of his right hand along his left forearm when Neil attempted to drag him into a ‘traditional’ pub which boasted a special on haggis and Scotch pies with mutton, only for his friend to laugh again before they settled on a more ‘modern’ place that sold sandwiches to go (Neil got something with smoked salmon, Andrew chicken salad) which they could eat while waiting for the bus.

“You’ve enough for your class now?” Neil asked as they sat facing one another once again, and hummed a little when Andrew nodded. “So… is there like a next step? You’ve done jails, what else are you studying? Corporal punishment? Forensic science? Do you get to hang out in a morgue for a day? Sleep in the drawers? Can I lock you in?” He appeared much too excited about that idea.

“Go to hell,” Andrew told him with a rude gesture, slightly amused despite himself. “And no, none of that this year.”

“Ah, a shame.” Neil seemed to deflate a little upon hearing Andrew’s denial. “Would have been fun to check out other places.”

Andrew was quiet as he tugged on the cuff of his left sleeve for a couple of seconds. “Doesn’t mean we have to go to them for a class, does it?” he said while his heart thundered in his chest. “If you liked doing things like today, that is,” he tried to continue in a nonchalant manner.

Neil gazed at him for what felt like forever before smiling in that shy manner that didn’t affect Andrew _at all_. “I like museums,” he admitted in a quiet voice. “And art galleries. It’s more fun without the whole tour thing, when you can walk around and look at the pictures and statues by yourself.”

Yes, Andrew had picked up on how Neil hadn’t enjoyed being with others, with the actors trying to draw him out and focusing on him. Yet he hadn’t complained, hadn’t asked Andrew to skip any parts of the tour or to hurry things along, had continued with their (Andrew’s) plans.

“I’m sure we can… we can find some to go to, if _you_ want,” Andrew mumbled as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and refused to act as if Neil’s smile just then affected him at all (it was the _bus_ , dammit, he wasn’t used to riding the bus so much).

He also refused to look at the faint smile on Neil’s handsome face for the rest of the bus ride, and soon enough they were back in Glasgow. Since they had a few hours before they were to return to Manchester, they wandered around the city, with Neil quick to note the various art museums which made Andrew silently plan a return visit ( _if_ things didn’t get fucked up in another week or two); eventually they made their way to Merchant Square, where they walked around an indoor craft market with Neil once more hovering near Andrew because of the crowd.

He could tell his friend was on edge because of all the strangers, was wary enough to pay attention to anyone who came too close, yet Neil also was interested in the numerous tables covered with pictures and paintings, with hand-crafted jewelry and trinkets. There was a tension in that lean body which spoke of a sense of hard-earned caution, of someone who expected the worst from people, who would fight or flee at the slightest provocation.

Oh yes, Neil was _such_ an _interesting_ mystery.

Yet despite his caution, his face lit up with joy when he spied a small black cat painted figurine crafted out of clay with skill and bought the thing before they went off for something to eat at some pan-Asian restaurant where Andrew ordered a couple of dozen chicken and vegetable dumplings while Neil had soba noodles. Andrew indulged in a couple of beers, while Neil stuck to some non-alcoholic green tea punch.

“I’m not big on drinking,” the Brit admitted with a slight shrug while he used chopsticks to eat the noodles without any problem. “It’s fine if you want to, but I’d rather not.”

“Guess it’s difficult to join a fraternity and go to all the parties when you study online,” Andrew drawled before he sipped his beer. “Some party animal you are.”

Neil shrugged to show that he wasn’t bothered by the comment. “Life’s enough of an adventure without getting drunk all the time. I like keeping my wits about me, thanks.”

“What wits?” Andrew teased, and arched an eyebrow when Neil threw the wrapper from his chopsticks in his direction. “Keep it up and your next ‘adventure’ is about to be visiting Glasgow’s emergency room after you’re pushed in front of a bus.”

“You wouldn’t do that to me,” Neil said with a slight smile and too much certainty.

All Andrew did was click his tongue then eat another dumpling.

They walked around a little more before they had to go to the train station; Neil seemed to know the general layout of the city and led them down a less-crowded street. “You’ve been here before.” That wasn’t a question, considering that Andrew hadn’t noticed the dark entrance of the alley they’d went into, which opened into a quiet courtyard.

Neil waited until they’d crossed the cobblestone-paved center to say anything. “It was years ago, and only for a couple of days, but I was here with my mom.” He glanced up at the small buildings surrounding the courtyard with a sad expression on his face, what looked to be private businesses with their dark windows and brass mailboxes by the colorful doors. “We weren’t here for sightseeing.”

Something to do with his father, perhaps, or maybe the ‘family’ business, which meant that Andrew wouldn’t pry just then. “My cousin’s getting on me about spending all this time in Europe and barely seeing any of it,” he admitted while he shook free a cigarette from the pack. “Just Manchester and a few visits to Stuttgart.”

That made a slight smile curl on Neil’s lips. “Well, you _are_ American,” he said with a mocking lilt to his voice. “You should be applauded for just leaving the States.”

Andrew’s eyes narrowed while he lit the cigarette then he made a show of glancing around. “Where’s the nearest bus? A large truck will do, too.”

“See? All the functional public transportation has done you in, hasn’t it?” Neil actually laughed when Andrew grasped the sleeve of his jacket and made a show of dragging him toward the edge of the sidewalk, next to the empty road.

It was the cold night air which made Andrew shiver, not the bright, amused sound or the sight of Neil’s happy, flushed face.

“Well….” Neil’s smile slipped as he fussed with the cuffs of his jacket, his hands all but swallowed up by the large coat. “If you want some company to see something else… it doesn’t have to be museums and the such.” The slight flush on his face intensified as he stared straight ahead. “Stuart gets on me about… well, him and the others tell me I should get out more, too.”

Andrew hadn’t planned on bringing up the offer from earlier, on _pushing_ , not when he’d already gone so far over the ledge with today as it was. Part of him had expected for Neil to let the matter drop, for their trip that day to be it… and he hated how such a simple thing made him feel so elated, like he was walking on air (terrified and thrilled and so much _emotion_ ).

Things like _Neil_ didn’t happen to him.

(So of course things like Neil _happened_ when he was in another country, when he was supposed to return home in the summer.)

They were quiet for about a block while Andrew finished the cigarette and Neil continued to fuss with his sleeves. “I’m… I’m sorry,” Neil stuttered out while gazing at the ground. “I just, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never… going out like this…. I’m-sor-“

“Don’t,” Andrew said as he flicked aside the cigarette butt. “Don’t apologize for anything,” he demanded as he rubbed at the back of his head. “It’s… this is new to me, too,” he admitted.

“Oh?” Neil gave him a surprised look. “But you’re-“ His cheeks grew flushed again as he glanced aside. “Uhm.”

“I’m what?” Andrew asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Never mind,” Neil mumbled as he refused to look Andrew’s way.

“Right.” Andrew shook his head while he shoved his hands into his pockets. “If we get mugged, I’m tripping you and making a run for it,” he said as he glanced around the almost empty street.

That made his friend scoff. “As if you’d do any running.” It was almost as if Neil knew him. “And we’re fine.” Neil glanced around and frowned, just a little. “We should be fine. Bren didn’t say anything about this area being bad.”

Wasn’t that interesting? “What all does Bren do, hmm?” Other than drive Neil around and threaten Andrew.

There was a slight lift of Neil’s left shoulder as he pulled the small cat figurine out of his jacket’s pocket to look at it for a few seconds. “He runs errands for my uncle, things like that.” Nice and vague things, obviously.

“And looks after you.”

Neil’s expression grew sheepish as he returned the cat to its pocket. “Yeah, he looks after me, too, for some reason.”

Perhaps because there was _something_ about Neil, something almost fragile with the – no, not fragile, just guarded, Andrew corrected himself. Neil was too wary, too _aware_ for fragile, his gaze constantly roving about as if checking for signs of danger, a cautious tension in his lean body and that hint of darkness in his eyes.

Something told Andrew that Neil wouldn’t fall to the first blow, or even the second or the third – if he was still there to take them. He’d survived an abusive (a ‘bad’) father, after all, and came from a family that could support a mostly empty coffee shop with ease by doing illicit things.

He wasn’t put off by _Andrew_ , which meant that he was both messed up and not easily scared.

Neil might not be an easily broken thing, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something to him that didn’t make one want to shield him from those future blows, dammit, to keep him from running away, from being so on edge. Andrew could understand why Bren was so protective, especially when there’d been more than enough interested looks sent Neil’s way during the day despite how Neil wore overlarge clothes and attempted to hide behind boring black dye and brown contacts.

Despite how Neil didn’t seem to notice any of the attention.

They were quiet the rest of the way to the train station (such a shame that they weren’t mugged so Andrew could hold that against his friend), and somehow Andrew wasn’t surprised that the ride back to Manchester was crowded. Neil gave him an apologetic look as they sat down next to each other once again.

They talked a little about the upcoming week (Andrew writing the paper, Neil ‘busy’ at the shop) and fumbled their way through making plans for the following Saturday, after the coffee shop was closed. Supposedly there was some small art festival near a park (which had ice cream), so they could spend the afternoon walking around then figure out dinner. The flush returned to Neil’s cheeks as he mentioned them maybe going to his apartment to cook there.

 Somehow, Andrew doubted it would be along the lines of his usual ‘hook-up’, not when Neil was so skittish about personal space, but it did seem to indicate that things were more than just ‘two guys hanging out together’.

Andrew didn’t believe in hope… he wasn’t sure he entirely believed in Neil, either, but something seemed to be happening between them regardless of his disbelief.

It had been a long day and there was a lot to think about, so he was relieved when Neil just gave a slight nod when he pulled the book out of his backpack to read during the ride back to Manchester. Neil texted on his phone a little, his brow furrowed as he exchanged messages, then fetched his tablet from the messenger bag and appeared to work on some more homework.

They’d left the Lancaster station when they were bothered by some loud, drunken assholes stumbling through the carriage – four guys in their early twenties who reeked of alcohol and were wearing soccer jerseys of some local team, their faces splotchy and plastic drink bottles in their hands which Andrew bet didn’t contain water.

Some middle-aged man attempted to reprimand them when one of the assholes leered at a couple of teenaged girls, only to be shoved in the face and yelled at; the girls used the distraction to move into another carriage. Neil tensed beside Andrew and put his tablet away, his expression blank and gaze sharp.

Sliding the book into the backpack while he watched the noisy assholes approach, Andrew leaned forward to block Neil from their view.

“What are you doing?” Neil asked in a quiet voice.

“Nothing, yet,” Andrew answered as he palmed a knife.

The assholes gave up on mocking the elderly couple a few seats up and stumbled down the aisle; at first they seemed to notice the two older women sitting across from Neil and Andrew who’d been minding their own business during the train ride, but then focused on him and Neil. “Wha’, you two kids or somethin’?” the asshole with the bleached curls slurred as he more or less pointed at them. “Fuckin’ kids.” He gestured to his friends behind him, spilling what smelled to be beer from his container on the floor of the carriage.

“Nah kids,” another asshole stated as he leaned on the back of the one woman’s seat and poked at her head, which made her cringe. “Midgets?”

Great, so they were politically incorrect assholes at that. “Save whatever remaining brain cells you have and leave,” Andrew told the assholes.

Bleach-brain gave him a cross-eyed look. “Wha’ you say?”

“He told you to fuck off, you rat-arsed git,” Neil sneered in obvious disgust. “All of you, go bugger yourselves.”

Somehow, Andrew had a feeling that Neil hadn’t said anything good right then, especially when the assholes’ faces grew even more reddened and the one woman gawked at the normally quiet young man.

Oh yes, nothing good judging from the way that Bleach-brain glared (still a bit cross-eyed) and reached for Neil. “Listen, you little-“

“No touching,” Andrew said in a quiet voice as he grabbed a handful of sweaty nylon material and pressed the knife to the asshole’s throat; out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Neil appeared to have a similar weapon of his own. How _interesting_ indeed. “I’ve a bunch of witnesses to back me on how you started things, were harassing everyone. So fuck off and leave everyone alone,” he ordered as he pressed the knife against a grimy neck just hard enough to make the asshole whimper while the rest of the drunken idiots backed away.

“’kay!” the asshole agreed in a rush, watery blue eyes wide with terror, so Andrew shoved him away with distaste. The pack of assholes were quick to leave the first class carriage; Andrew waited until they were gone to put away his knife and missed finding out where Neil had hidden the switchblade.

The women gave him grateful smiles and gradually people resumed talking in the carriage, and after a few minutes Neil nudged him in the left shoulder. “You didn’t have to do that,” Neil murmured as he pulled out his phone once more to text.

“Right, I could have let you and your big mouth get you into trouble.” It was always the quiet ones, Andrew mused.

Neil rolled his eyes but continued to text. “You started it.”

“I didn’t call him ‘rat-arsed’ or,” Andrew finished looking up the one word and arched an eyebrow, “basically told them to fuck themselves.” No wonder they’d been upset.

His friend’s expression turned sullen. “They were a bunch of wankers.”

“Yes, and they outnumbered you.” When Neil continued to pout, Andrew shook his head and put his phone away, filled with a better understanding of why some people had huge bodyguards assigned to watch over them.

Neil’s bad attitude didn’t last for very long, and by the time they reached Manchester he gave Andrew a slight smile as they debarked the train. “Bren’s waiting to drive me back to the apartment, do you want a ride to campus?”

For a moment Andrew debated saying ‘yes’, but he wasn’t in the mood to put up with Bren right then and it would be the opposite direction of Neil’s apartment (judging from the location of the coffee shop), which meant that one of them would be going out of their way. “It’s quicker for me to just grab a cab.”

“Okay.” Neil chewed on his bottom lip as they went down the steps from the platform. “Uhm, thank you, for dinner and everything today. It was fun.” He wrinkled his nose as he waved his right hand in the air a little as he came to a stop off to the side of the station’s wide hallway. “Not the bastards on the train part, but everything else.”

Unused to being thanked for things, Andrew fidgeted with the strap of his backpack and shrugged. “It’s nothing, I invited you along.” He hesitated for a moment while Neil shook his head. “Yes or no?” he dared to ask since there weren’t too many people walking through the station just then and he knew Bren would be outside waiting for Neil.

At first appearing confused by the question, Neil cocked his head to the side and gazed at him. “Yes,” he said after a moment, and went still when Andrew leaned in close yet didn’t pull away. It was a brief kiss, considering their location, but he closed his eyes and didn’t pull away, he even leaned forward a little and breathed out a low sigh when Andrew finally gave in to the urge to brush back the unruly bangs that always fell onto his face.

All too soon, Andrew pulled away, which drew forth another breathy sigh. Neil blinked his eyes open and smiled, the expression still faint yet pleased. “ _Oh_ ,” Neil said before he bit into his full bottom lip.

“Come on,” Andrew insisted, grateful that he didn’t sound out of breath or affected at all. “Before Bren thinks I kidnapped you or something.”

That made his friend scowl. “Not funny, he just might.” He fished out his phone from the pocket of his jacket and sighed when he looked at its screen. “He’s about to come in here.”

Oh yes, Andrew was definitely taking a cab back to the dorm. “Have fun with that.”

Neil complained about how he could look after himself just fine (if his mouthing off to a bunch of drunken assholes was any indication then no, he couldn’t) as they exited the train station. It didn’t come as any surprise when there was a very expensive sedan (illegally) parked right out front with a very large, burly man leaning against it, his gaze intent on the doors as if watching for a certain idiot.

Neil waved to Bren before he turned to Andrew. “See you tomorrow? I think we’re getting some chocolate cakes in.”

Andrew nodded, which earned him another pleased smile, before he turned toward where the cabs were parked in a line for customers. When he heard Neil call out Bren’s name, he glanced back to see his friend approach the bodyguard, and caught what looked to be a nod in acknowledgement from Bren.

Hmm, that looked almost friendly, how odd.

He put it out of mind as he approached the nearest cab, tired yet buzzed from spending the day with Neil, from the ‘yes’ and their kiss (a damn _kiss_ , he was pathetic).

If things were like this from a simple _kiss_ and a bit of time spent together… Andrew might have a serious problem on his hands.

He couldn’t seem to find it in him to care, though.

*******

**Author's Note:**

> *******  
> That's it? I hope you like it, at some point I need to organize things much better for this AU. And work is about to implode shortly, so not sure what that'll mean for fic posting, other than sure things won't be very regular.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!  
> *******


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